Child Care Search Tool:

Key Components of Your

Consumer Education Website

National Webinar

August 13, 2020

State Capacity Building Center 1

Introductions

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Mel Banks, Consumer Education Intensive Technical

Assistance Specialist, Child Care State Capacity

Building Center (SCBC)

Amy Page, Early Childhood Systems Consultant, Child

Care State Capacity Building Center (SCBC)

Poll 1

Please tell us in

the chat what

state or territory

you are from.

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Poll 2

On the following slide, please select the role that

fits you best.

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Objectives

Examine how a child care search tool works within

your consumer education website to support families

and meet Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)

requirements.

Describe approaches to developing an effective child

care search tool for your jurisdiction.

Identify steps for researching, planning, and

implementing a family friendly child care search tool.

Explore resources to support enhancement of your

child care search tool.

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Core Pieces of an Effective Consumer

Education Website

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Consumer Education Website

Child Care Search Tool

Child Care Information for Parents

Child Care Information for Providers

Child Care Data

CCDF Requirements

CCDF Requirements

CCDF Requirements

CCDF Requirements

Moving from Compliance to a

Commitment to Quality

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Why Is Your Child Care Search Tool

Important?

It helps families make informed child care decisions.

It positions the agency as a trusted source on child

care information.

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What Should Your Child Care Search Tool Do?

Help families search for child care programs that meet their specific child care needs.

Provide program-level information that will help inform their choices.

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Enhancing Your Child Care

Search Tool

Elements of a Robust Search Tool

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Search Criteria

• Includes dynamic search filters

•Allows families to search by common care attributes

Search Results

•Displays providers that meet family’s needs

•Allows for easy comparison

Provider Profiles

•Allows families to access detailed provider-level information

•Provides an approved platform that helps providers market to a wide audience

Useful Search Criteria

Location

Program type

Ages served

Days and hours of

operation

Quality rating and

improvement system

rating

Accreditation status

Financial assistance

options

Yearly schedule

Additional services

Environmental features

Languages spoken

Supports for children with

specials needs

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Poll 3

Which search criteria would be most helpful for families in your state or territory?

Please respond in the chat.

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Displaying Search Results

Display results in both a map and list format.

Provide key provider summary information on the map and list.

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Provider Profile

Displays more detailed program-level information:

Days and hours of operation

Ages served

Rates

Yearly schedule

Availability

Financial assistance options

Additional services (such as transportation and drop-in

care)

Languages spoken

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Source: Child Care State Capacity Building Center. (2018). Consumer education website requirements [Infographic.] U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care.

https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/public/ccdf_consumer_education_website_requirements_infographic.pdf

Integrate Other CCDF Requirements

into Search Results and Provider

Profiles

According to CCDF requirements relating to consumer education websites, Lead Agencies must post the following:

Quality rating information

Provider-specific results of monitoring and inspection reports, including information about substantiated complaints, corrective actions, and serious health and safety violations

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Source: Child Care and Development Fund, 45 C.F.R. § 98.33(a)(4) (2016).

Integrate Other CCDF Requirements

into Search Results and Provider

Profiles

The provider profile page is an optimal location

to include this information.

When you integrate these requirements directly

in the child care search results or provider

profile, families can use that information to

inform their child care choices.

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Ways to Optimize Utility and Visibility

Apply helpful design features.

Avoid login requirements.

Use information icons.

Ensure your search tool is adaptable during

emergencies.

Make sure families and providers can find your

search tool when they conduct an online search.

Use search engine optimization.

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Poll 4

What enhancements would

you like to make to your child

care search tool?

Share your response in the

chat.

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Considerations: Which

Enhancements Are Right For You?

Website Structure: Working within an

Existing Government Site

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Used with permission from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. (n.d.). Oklahoma child care locator [Online tool].

http://childcarefind.okdhs.org/childcarefind/

Website Structure:

Working within an

Independent Site

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Used with permission from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. (n.d.). Parent aware [Online tool]. https://parentaware.org/search/

Small Jurisdictions

A small jurisdiction has a relatively small child care

provider population (Less than 200 Providers).

Consider how some of these best practice elements

could be applied to your searchable child care list format.

Tips for a Searchable Spreadsheet or Directory Be sure to address CCDF requirements

Think about how to integrate other requirements

Make sure it is easy to search or sort

Think about how families search

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Poll 5

Within which structure

do you operate your

child care search tool?

Respond to the poll on

the following slide.

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How Can You Stay on Target?

Understand the possibilities and limitations of your website structure.

Evaluate your resources in terms of staffing and funding.

Keep your audience’s needs in sight.

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Any Enhancement Is a Step in the

Right Direction

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How to Begin: Implementing

Child Care Search Tool

Enhancements

Steps for Enhancing Your Child Care

Search

• Research

• Plan

• Implement

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Research

Engage your stakeholders.

Examine other child care search tools. Identify

best practices.

Assess your current search tool and identify

areas for enhancement.

Contact your State System Specialist with

questions or to arrange peer-to-peer calls.

Leverage ChildCare.gov

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Office of Child Care, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). ChildCare.gov

[Website]. Retrieved from https://childcare.gov/

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Plan

Create a vision.

Prioritize enhancements.

Determine your data needs. Consider data

governance and integration.

Embrace an incremental approach.

Embrace an Incremental Approach

Prioritize enhancements.

Batch enhancements to make the process more feasible.

Develop a long-term plan with short- and long-term goals.

Use stakeholder and user feedback to validate the priorities.

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Poll 6

Thinking about an

incremental approach,

what are some

enhancements you

could consider in the

short-term for your child

care search tool?

Please respond in the

chat.

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Implement

Communicate with key partners and the target

audience.

Conduct user testing.

Perform regular maintenance.

Apply search engine optimization.

Use web analytics.

Helpful Resources

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Office of Child Care, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Early Childhood

Training and Technical Assistance System [Website]. Retrieved from https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/featured-consumer-education-resources

Consumer Education Resources

Office of Child Care. (n.d.). Consumer education

resources. U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services, Administration for Children and Families.

https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/topics/consumer-

education

Office of Child Care. (n.d.). Early childhood training and

technical assistance system. U.S. Department of Health

and Human Services, Administration for Children and

Families. https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/

37State Capacity Building Center

SCBC Consumer Education Website Guides

Recordings of prior webinars as well as additional resources on each webinar topic

are posted on the following web page:

Child Care State Capacity Building Center. (2019). Consumer education webinar

series. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children

and Families, Office of Child Care. https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/consumer-

education-webinar-series

Designing Websites that Are Accessible for All Families (2019),

https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/resource/designing-websites-are-accessible-all-families

Guide for Increasing Search Engine Optimization (2019),

https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/resource/guide-increasing-search-engine-optimization

Guide for Measuring Web Traffic and Engagement (2019),

https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/resource/guide-measuring-web-traffic-and-engagement

Improving Consumer Education Websites with User Research (2019),

https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/resource/improving-consumer-education-websites-user-

research

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Additional Webinars

Leveraging Child Care Consumer

Education Websites During Emergencies

and Disasters

Thursday, August 27th – 1:30 pm ET

Child Care Consumer Education Website

Communication Strategies

Thursday, September 17th – 12:00 pm ET

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Poll 7

How much did your understanding about this topic improve as a result of this webinar?

Respond in the poll on the following slide.

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Poll 8

How likely are you to use these strategies in your future work with consumer education websites?

Respond in the poll on the following slide.

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Poll 9

Are there other webinar

topics that would be

useful to you?

Please respond in the

chat.

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State Capacity Building Center

A Service of the Office of Child Care

9300 Lee Highway

Fairfax, VA 22031

Phone: 877-296-2401

Email: CapacityBuildingCenter@icf.com

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